Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) should avoid paying Jamaican workers low wages especially following the infusion of another US$50 million to capitalise the recently sold airline, stated union head on Monday.

“Low wages makes no sense because you not going to be able to keep (skilled workers) and not going to have productivity,” said president of the National Workers Union Vincent Morrison whilst addressing the weekly Observer Monday Exchange of reporters and editors at the newspaper’s head office in Kingston.

Over the years, select categories of Air Jamaica workers had accepted pay cuts in the hope of future improvement at the cash strapped airline. Morrison hinted that the sacrifice may have been in vain.

“That is why when we speak we are so disappointed that they have contributed so much to the airline,” he stated.

Yesterday RJR News reported that pilots who were rehired through CAL received pay cuts up to 45 per cent in order to be realigned with pilot salaries at CAL.

The Business Observer contacted the pilots union, the Jamaican Airline Pilots’ Association (JALPA) for comment but received no call-back up to press time.

In March, Air Jamaica pilots were wooed by at least eight overseas airlines, mostly in the Middle East and Asia offering competitive salaries some beyond US$100,000.

Last week all 1,500 staff received a redundancy severance pay totalling US$24 million ($2.15 billion) following which 1,000 were rehired.

The NWU head was optimistic that some of the problems experienced in the past should not reoccur under this new management. Last week CAL management told the Observer that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago agreed to increase Caribbean Airlines’ capital by US$50 million, providing more than adequate comfort to the divestment committee that adequate funding will be available to the project.

“It would seem that that the arrangement between CAL and Air Jamaica that going forward that capital would not be a big problem and my understanding is that the CAL will infuse another US$50 million to assist with the whole process,” Morrison stated.

The Jamaica government, in a process fraught with misses, began the trek in March 2008 to rid itself of the operations of Air Jamaica, which wracked up a deficit of US$1.54 billion in its 42-year operation.

Air Jamaica employees, led by their union representatives, have for months been up in arms over their redundancy benefits, as well as possible employment with Caribbean Airlines.